Mr. Speaker, the government may be proud of it, but there is no money in the budget to fund it.

The interesting thing is that the president of ACOA is still promoting it. She is a public servant and totally in contradiction of the ethics act, the code, if I may. This is how the government put itself in trouble on the ad scam issue with public servants refusing to say no or unwilling to say no to their political masters.

Does the minister want to see politicization of ACOA until finally the government is defeated at the polls?

Mr. Speaker, we are very proud of what we have been able to accomplish in Atlantic Canada in terms of getting the agenda for the economic revitalization of our region on the national stage. Any time any public servant talks about Atlantic Canada, we are proud of that too.

Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of State for Public Health.

It is common knowledge that provinces and territories across Canada have varying levels of coverage for immunizations. In my own Province of Ontario, many parents cannot have their children vaccinated because they cannot afford the fees.

Now that federal funding has been allocated to assist the provinces and territories with immunization programs, when will the government provide these funds so that Canadian children will have equal access to vaccinations?

Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his question on this federal-provincial-territorial success story in our national immunization strategy.

The $300 million of funding announced in this week's budget exemplifies the government's commitment to the shared goal of equitable access to the newer vaccines for all Canadians no matter where they live. Given this priority, the funds will be accounted for in this fiscal year and we will ensure that the money will be available to the provinces and territories as soon as the legislation is passed.

I know I can count on the support of all in the House to ensure its timely passage, and I know we find unacceptable as Canadians that any family physician, pediatrician or nurse practitioner in the country should have--

Mr. Speaker, in the strongest possible terms I want to express my disappointment in the new BSE package offered in the budget. It appears as though dairy producers have been either forgotten or abandoned. The guaranteed figure of $56 per dairy heifer is absolutely unsatisfactory. Tomorrow I will be meeting in my riding with area stakeholders concerning agriculture.

How would the government suggest I go about explaining to dairy farmers in Perth—Middlesex that they are being ignored?

Mr. Speaker, that is just simply not the case. In the fall we brought in a $200 million cull cow program that certainly helped the dairy sector. In fact 10% of the dollars that will go out, will go into the dairy sector, close to $100 million. The member can tell his dairy producers that the Government of Canada is fully committed, and we are fully committed behind supply management.

Mr. Speaker, let us not give our farmers false hope. We all want to see the border open as soon as possible. Domestic aid programs, while needed at this time, do nothing to address the real issue, opening the U.S. border to Canadian livestock.

Last week we saw the Prime Minister totally interested in a campaign style photo op. Why is he not more interested in meeting one on one with the American president? At least then he would get his photo op in the rose garden.

Mr. Speaker, I would think that would be more appropriate for the hon. member's leader. What my leader is doing is sitting down and working with the industry.

I was in Washington yesterday. I met with Secretary Veneman. We are working through, very well, the process with regard to opening up the border. Once their legal process is done on April 7, we believe very strongly that there is absolutely no reason why that border should not open.

The Prime Minister has said that directly to the President, and he will continue to work through the Prime Minister's Office.

Mr. Speaker, during a recent visit to Quebec, the Prime Minister raised expectations and high hopes with respect to social housing. Lobby groups such as FRAPRU have expressed their great disappointment at having to wait for election promises in order to find out what the government's true intentions are for social housing.

How does the Prime Minister explain that there is not one cent in his budget for the development of social housing?

Mr. Speaker, in the last three years we have announced and are actively putting in play a billion dollars for affordable housing. As the hon. member would know, a significant portion of that is in the province of Quebec which has responded very quickly, and I am happy to say it is among the leaders in the country. However, we still have more money to get in play with other provinces. We are in the act of doing that now.

Jean AugustineMinister of State (Multiculturalism and Status of Women)

Mr. Speaker, the Government of Canada considers the selective treatment of individuals solely on the basis of ethnic or racial characteristics as unacceptable. The Department of Multiculturalism has been engaged in progressive work on the issue of profiling.

Just last week I spoke to about 100 leaders at a consensus conference on racial profiling in Toronto. I will have the chance this weekend in the Atlantic region, in Fredericton, to speak with the Atlantic Region Association of Immigrant Serving Agencies to discuss this important matter.

Mr. Speaker, it has come to our attention that Edith Gendron, a federal public servant in the official languages support programs branch, is being blackmailed and threatened with losing her job, simply because she is an active sovereignist.

Will the government assure Ms. Gendron and this entire House that no threats will be tolerated and that no one's job will be at stake because of their political convictions?

The rules governing the conduct of federal public servants are found in the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Service. These rules outline situations where there could be real or apparent conflict of interest within the public service.

If there is a conflict of interest between personal interests and those related to public interest, the conflict must be resolved in favour of the public interest.

Ms. Gendron's case is now before the administration and internal management of the Department of Canadian Heritage. Therefore we will let the process take its course.